John J. Tully - Request for photo id's and resources I can tap

John J. Tully - Request for photo id's and resources I can tap

MY REQUEST is to find out about resources I can tap and also to identify people in photos taken at a pig roast in 1936.

I’d like to document my Grandfather John Jackson “Johnny” Tully’s life in Anchorage and Palmer. He divided his time between the two locations. I want to pin down the dates.

Born 12 Sept. 1885 Cornwall, Henry, IL. The family moved to Elyria, Valley, NE in about 1888. Died 16 June 1955 in an Anchorage hospital. Buried in the Pioneer Cemetery in Palmer. I have the obituaries from Anchorage and Palmer papers.

Possibly, he went to AK sometime between 1902 and 1909 for a “look-see,” and he arrived for good in the 1920’s although he made long visits to family in NE. He made his living working as a trapper, working on the roads, working in construction, homesteader, bought and sold land, and he opened the Arctic Circle Trailer Court in Anchorage. He was a ship’s carpenter going from AK to Honolulu (don’t have dates). He had a homestead patent for 113 acres along the Matanuska River in Palmer (application 7 Nov 1932; patent issued 24 Feb 1939). Proof and testimony witnesses were Harry Morehouse and Rupert D. Baird. I have the papers for that. He was not one of the Colonists, although he probably helped with construction both before and after they arrived. He also bought land and then sold it to the agency that was creating the homesteads for the Colonists. He was friends with Colonist Waldo Fox, and provided meat for the winter for Waldo and his two sons.

In Anchorage, for the buildup to WWII, he worked construction for Ft. Richardson and Elmendorf AFB. He also helped build the Mountain View neighborhood and lived there for a short time. Even when he worked and lived in Anchorage, he loved Palmer, had close friends there and considered it his home. I’m trying to pin down dates.

Were there any lists of people living in Palmer before 1940? Are there pay records for people who worked on roads or on the buildup for the Colonists?

I also have a number of photos of people taken in Palmer in 1936 when my Mother visited Grandfather. I’d like some help identifying them.

Thanks so much for any help. I have already posted on the Anchorage message board. Kris